A high-profile White House meeting on Treasury’s $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan ended on a sour, contentious note Thursday after animated exchanges among lawmakers laced with presidential politics just weeks before the November elections.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came up to the Capitol hours later to revive talks, but House Republicans did not participate, and Democrats warned that the whole process could collapse unless President Bush gets them to come to the table.

“Unless this fourth leg shows up at some point, this could fall off very quickly,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).

At the White House, in fact, House Minority Leader John Boehner had bluntly warned about the lack of Republican support for the massive government intervention: “I can’t invent votes,” Boehner said. But House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily accused the minority of trying to undercut Paulson by crafting a late-breaking alternative proposal—with the tacit support, Frank said, of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Both McCain and his Democrat rival, Sen. Barack Obama, would leave the White House without comment, and the meeting was described as among the wildest in memory. A beleaguered President Bush had to struggle to maintain order and reassert himself. And when Democrats left to caucus in the Roosevelt Room, Paulson pursued them, begging that they not “blow up” the legislation.

The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

It was McCain who had urged Bush to call the White House meeting but Democrats made sure Obama had a prominent part. And much as they complained later of being blindsided, the whole event turned out to be something of an ambush on their part—aimed at McCain and House Republicans.

“Speaking professionally,” said one Republican aide, “They did a very good job.”

When Bush yielded early to Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) to speak, they yielded to Obama to speak for the assembled Democrats. And it was Obama who raised the subject of the conservative alternative and pressed Paulson on what he thought of the idea.

House Republicans felt trapped—squeezed by Treasury, House Democrats and a bipartisan coalition in the Senate. And while McCain spoke surprisingly little after asking for the meeting, he conceded that it appeared there were not the votes for the core Paulson plan without major changes.
A top adviser to McCain, Mark Salter, said later that the senator had not endorsed the House conservative plan but felt it reflected a desire by lawmakers for more taxpayer protections that would help get the required votes. For example, Salter said, one option would be to make clear that the secretary needn’t be confined to buying up bad debts and could use other routes such as loans or federally-backed insurance to relieve the congestion in mortgage-related assets.

When talks resumed — in Reid’s words — to "put the train back on track,” Paulson came to the Capitol but without Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who appears to want to stand clear of the negotiating session.

The wild White House meeting may have the effect of uniting Democrats more. And only hours before, Dodd, Frank and bipartisan set of prominent senators had reached a bipartisan agreement Thursday on the framework for legislation authorizing the massive government intervention.

But passing the Treasury plan is still an uphill climb, and Pelosi will be reluctant to expose her members if House Republicans are sitting out the process. And the whole sequence of events confirmed Treasury’s fears about the decision by Bush, at the urging of McCain, to allow presidential politics into what were already difficult negotiations.

While the markets were closed by the time the meeting ended, Friday could bring turmoil, and there will be immense pressure now by Treasury to get back on track before Monday.

McCain could feel that same pressure. Having called for the meeting, he will have to show if can deliver the votes of House Republicans, many of whom have been leery of him in the past. Mindful of this, the senator’s campaign issued a brief statement an hour after the breakup of the meeting.

“We're optimistic that Sen. McCain will bring House Republicans on board without driving other parties away, resulting in a successful deal for the American taxpayer.”

But House Republicans predicted that the bill now may have to move first in the Senate, where it has more bipartisan support. And one outside option would be to add the package to a must-pass year-end spending bill needed to keep the government funded after Oct. 1.

Paulson was left feeling bruised on two fronts. He was not part of the Capitol discussions in the morning, which stretched to nearly three hours and will now require extensive follow-up with Treasury. This process began last night and will continue Friday morning, while the leadership takes the political temperature for going forward.

At the same time, Frank, a strong Paulson ally, feels the secretary is being undercut in front of the president.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13918.html

'Hamas' Jenkins

09-25-2008, 10:55 PM

God, that is hilarious and pathetically sad for all involved.

memyselfI

09-25-2008, 10:57 PM

ROFL

The leadership of the opposition are begged (in jest) to support DUHbya and his Wall Street buddies and they OBLIGE???? ROFL

SBK

09-25-2008, 11:06 PM

You know the plan is great when you have to resort to begging. What a frickin idiot.

Taco John

09-25-2008, 11:35 PM

ROFL

The leadership of the opposition are begged (in jest) to support DUHbya and his Wall Street buddies and they OBLIGE???? ROFL

In jest?

It's almost like you purposefully warp reality to sloppily fit into your twisted world view.

Per Brietbart:

A Republican rebellion stalled government efforts Thursday to avoid economic meltdown, a chaotic turnaround that disrupted the choreography of an extraordinary White House meeting meant to show joint resolve from the president, the political parties and the presidential candidates. Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

And your take is that he did it in jest? This man is too desperate to joke.

alnorth

09-25-2008, 11:37 PM

In jest?

It's almost like you purposefully warp reality to sloppily fit into your twisted world view.

Per Brietbart:

A Republican rebellion stalled government efforts Thursday to avoid economic meltdown, a chaotic turnaround that disrupted the choreography of an extraordinary White House meeting meant to show joint resolve from the president, the political parties and the presidential candidates. Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

And your take is that he did it in jest? This man is too desperate to joke.

How could you not think it was in jest? Its plainly obvious that he wasnt serious, and Pelosi certainly took it as such, responding with a light joke.

'Hamas' Jenkins

09-25-2008, 11:41 PM

ROFL

The leadership of the opposition are begged (in jest) to support DUHbya and his Wall Street buddies and they OBLIGE???? ROFL

http://www.neverwinpoker.com/forums/style_emoticons/smiles/gtfo.gif.

Taco John

09-25-2008, 11:43 PM

How could you not think it was in jest? Its plainly obvious that he wasnt serious, and Pelosi certainly took it as such, responding with a light joke.

My God. :shake:

memyselfI

09-26-2008, 07:02 AM

From the article above:
The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

It's almost like you purposefully warp reality to sloppily fit into your twisted world view.

Per Brietbart:

A Republican rebellion stalled government efforts Thursday to avoid economic meltdown, a chaotic turnaround that disrupted the choreography of an extraordinary White House meeting meant to show joint resolve from the president, the political parties and the presidential candidates. Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

And your take is that he did it in jest? This man is too desperate to joke.

Some people, Taco John to be precise, will believe anything as literal if they read it on the internet. What a douche.